Eight months after Joao Pedro's goal and a Cole Palmer brace gave Chelsea a 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey, the Blues will take on the French side again, this time in the Champions League.

It is the fifth time we have been drawn against PSG in this competition. Chelsea beat them 3-0 in the first in the 2004/05 group stage before Demba Ba's famous late goal at Stamford Bridge helped us eliminate them on away goals in the quarter-finals in 2014. Since then, we have suffered two defeats, both in the last 16.

We will travel to the French capital at some point between 9 to 11 March in this season's last 16, before a second leg at the Bridge a week later, and here we profile Luis Enrique's side and the club’s history…

Factfile

Full name: Paris Saint-Germain Football Club
Country: France
City: Paris
Formation: 1970
Major honours: 13 Ligue 1 titles (most recently 2025), 16 Coupe de France wins (most recently 2025), one UEFA Champions League win (2025), one European Cup Winners' Cup win (1996), one FIFA Intercontinental Cup win (2025)
Head coach: Luis Enrique
2024/25 league finish: Winners
Stadium: Parc des Princes
Colours: Blue and red
Nickname: Les Parisiens (The Parisians)
Rivals: Marseille, Paris FC

Champions League history

Despite all their many domestic triumphs, Paris Saint-Germain had struggled to replicate that success on the European stage, and had never reached the knockout rounds before 2012. Continental glory remained frustratingly just out of reach, narrowly losing to Bayern Munich in the 2020 final, when Thomas Tuchel was the PSG head coach and Tiago Silva was captain of the side.

There was then a pair of painful semi-final exits in the 2020/21 and 2023/24 editions before they finally got their hands on the Champions League trophy for the first time. They did so in emphatic style too, with an impressive campaign culminating in a 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan in the final in Munich.

2024/25 season

Enrique's second season in the Paris Saint-Germain dugout went almost perfectly, winning four of the five competitions they took part in, making it officially the most successful campaign in their history. A 1-0 win over Monaco in the Trophee des Champions gave them their first silverware before they wrapped up the Ligue 1 title early, finishing top by a 19-point margin.

The domestic treble was completed with a 3-0 win over Reims in the final of the Coupe de France, before the big one, dismissing Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final a week later. It seemed a clean sweep could be on the cards as they defeated Real Madrid and Bayern Munich on their way to the Club World Cup final, only to be beaten 3-0 by Chelsea.

2025/26 season so far…

PSG are on course for another successful campaign and already have three pieces of silverware to their name this season, despite a shock exit to local rivals Paris FC in the last 32 of the Coupe de France. Les Parisiens retained the Trophee des Champions by beating Marseille in a penalty shootout, and also needed penalties to beat Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Super Cup, claiming that trophy for the first time.

They added the FIFA Intercontinental Cup in December, again going the full distance in the final, beating Flamengo on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Qatar. PSG currently sit two points clear of second-placed Lens at the top of the Ligue 1 table after 23 matches, as they look for a fifth-successive title.

Current squad

Paris Saint-Germain are captained by their long-serving Brazilian defender Marquinhos, who has played at the Parc des Princes for over a decade.

They have Premier League experience in the form of Portuguese midfielder Vitinha, who spent one season on loan with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020/21, and Urkainian defender Illia Zabarnyi, who represented Bournemouth for two years before swapping the South Coast for the French capital last summer.

Notable former players

Current captain Marquinhos has made a club record 504 appearances for PSG, but it was his long-time defensive partner who will be most familiar to Chelsea supporters. Thiago Silva spent eight years in Paris, often also alongside former Blue David Luiz, before swapping the French capital for London in 2020, becoming a world and European champion with the Blues.

The Parc des Princes was also the place Chelsea legend Claude Makelele chose to end his career, after winning two Premier League titles at Stamford Bridge, while some of the biggest names in world football have lined up in the Paris Saint-Germain shirt over the years, including George Weah, Ronaldinho, David Beckham, Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

Previous Champions League meetings

2004/05 group stage

Paris Saint-Germain 0-3 Chelsea
Chelsea 0-0 Paris Saint-Germain

2013/14 quarter-finals

Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 Chelsea
Chelsea 2-0 Paris Saint-Germain (3-3 on aggregate, Chelsea win on away goals)

2014/15 round of 16

Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Chelsea
Chelsea 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain (3-3 on aggregate, PSG win on away goals)

2015/16 round of 16

Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 Chelsea
Chelsea 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain (PSG win 4-2 on aggregate)